It has been announced that the Amazon Forests, which are considered as one of the most effective weapons in the hands of humanity against global warming, with its absorption of carbon in the air and the dense water vapor it contains, have experienced the greatest loss of space in the last 15 years.
The main causes of forest loss in the Amazon, which produces 20 percent of the world’s oxygen and is home to approximately 3 million plant and animal species and around 2.2 million Native Americans, are the creation of new agricultural lands, mining, infrastructure projects, fires and trees. activities such as cutting.
According to the Brazilian Space Research Agency (INPE) report, the loss in the Amazons increased by 22 percent compared to the previous year. Deforestation in Brazil, which hosts more than 60 percent of the Amazon Forest, reportedly reached 13,235 square kilometers (km2) last year alone. This size is more than Qatar, which has an area of 11,586 km2, or the area of Turkey’s 64 provinces.
According to data from the Socio-Environmental Institute (ISA), 18 million trees were cut down on their native land in Brazil alone in 2021.
According to ISA data, under Jair Bolsonaro, who has been in power in Brazil since 2019 and encouraged agriculture and mining activities in the Amazon due to its economic benefits, deforestation activities increased by 79 percent in reserve areas and by 138 percent in protected areas inhabited by Indians.
It is reported that 26 percent of the Amazons, which are the largest tropical forests in the world with a total area of 6 million 381 thousand square kilometers and shared by 9 South American countries, are at high risk and 7 percent are at very high risk.
It is reported that the indigenous people living in the Amazon Forests defend their habitats by opposing the activities such as cutting valuable trees, agriculture and mining, which are desired to be done in the region, creating resistance against the deforestation process, but threats to the natives have increased in recent years.